A whirlwind of good times at East Orlando Beer Festival

Beer, food, sunshine, smoke and an unexpected whirlwind added up to make a memorable East Orlando Beer Festival on Saturday.

Florida Beer Festivals put on the bash in a large fenced-off area of the Waterford Lakes Town Center on a gorgeous first day of spring in Central Florida. Many craft and mass-market brews were poured as the thousands of festival-goers moved from booth to booth to sample the offerings.

Among the highlights:

Lots of tasty food samples from such local and national eateries such as Hooters, California Pizza Kitchen, Urban Flats, Bojangles’ and the Pita Pit.

The most unusual event of the day occurred when a languid whirlwind (Dust devil? Mini-tornado) somehow formed on an otherwise calm day, crossed a corner of the festival area and lifted a portable shelter, a beach umbrella and loose litter about 100 yards into the sky. The crowd cheered as the spinning detritus slowly moved across the parking lot to parts unknown before the wind dissipated. Florida Beer Festivals tracked down some video of the whirlwind and posted it here.

Disclaimer: Tornadoes are no laughing matter, but really, this was no more than a funnel-shaped strong breeze, and no injuries were reported.

And for about a half-hour, a distant brush fire added more excitement as it formed a towering plume of smoke on the near horizon before firefighters quenched the flames.

If you missed this fest, Florida Beer Festivals is holding two more in Spring 2010:

Judging by success of the one in East Orlando, you might want to make these festivals a part of your next Florida road trip for beer. And if you can’t make it to those, keep an eye on the Florida Beer Festival website as more are announced – and make a note for next year.